Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

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Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby smurfman on Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:28 pm

It is finally fall! The first hunting seasons open tomorrow and I am stoked. The morning will see me walking the neighbor's pasture for snipe which are fairly thick as the pasture is still a bit soggy from the last rains. They are tough birds to hit but it is fun getting out and shooting something besides starling or pigeons.

Then it is off the the cabin for bear hunting in the afternoon. I didn't think I was going to get out at all this year due to some health issues but between a different surgery technique allowing me to heal up well enough in two weeks and one of the neighbors up there having an extra bait station I am able to spend some time on a stand. Lucky I didn't sell my old bear gun as I have not had time to finish inletting the stock and then sighting in the new gun.

Saturday morning is the goose opener and I will be out in a hayfield near the cabin for that. There are quite a few birds in the area but they seem to have no set pattern on where they feed. I hope to pull a couple over if they fly my way.

This is the time of year I live for, I prefer hunting to about anything else. When the bird seasons all open up I am in seventh heaven.
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby yukonjasper on Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:57 pm

+1000000. Love fall and hunting season. Fall fishing is great also. Good luck this weekend sounds action packed.
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Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby INOR on Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:16 am

Love fall even though I no longer make time for hunting. (Too busy with kids!) Hope you have a fun, successful, and safe hunting weekend!


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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby FJ540 on Fri Sep 01, 2017 11:57 pm

I started my bait station late and the bear haven't found it yet. I sat the afternoon til the rain picked up 1hr before end of hours and came in.

My in-laws will be here all weekend and I want to get some fishing in with the kid before we pull boats Monday. Temps look better next week anyway. Until then, the damn coon can keep mooching.
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby smurfman on Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:37 pm

Shot two snipe with the first shot. Won't say how many others I shot at but missed! The pasture was not as thick with them as a couple days earlier though as it was drying out.

Bear hunting was exciting, the first night I had two bears visit while I was in the stand. Neither fit my idea of a shooter so they got passes. Saturday had no action but Sunday had the larger of the two return. It is still too early in the season to tag a maybe ~200# bear but I was tempted. It ate a bit than walked off.

Goose hunting is something that will have to wait, sitting up in the field and firing a shotgun is a bit much at this time. So is working a call as it hurts to push air up from the diaphragm. I pulled two from the first flock and then watched my buddy fill his limit with the next two flocks as I hurt too much to continue. I might be ready when the regular season opens or if I can shoot from a standing position as that is not hard on the stomach muscles. I have already tried pass shooting and that is very doable and luckily can do that from my yard.

Another week and the ruffed grouse will have to look out!
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby FJ540 on Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:13 pm

Got my first bear on camera at 1 AM this morning. It didn't work my bait barrel at all and only stuck around 15 minutes.

I have some bird seed spread around since the coons don't seem to go for that, and the bear have been hitting it in the area.

Hopefully word gets out that I've got an easy meal and traffic picks up as temps fall next week.
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby smurfman on Mon Sep 11, 2017 4:48 pm

I've tried corn, bird seed, sunflower seed, oats, and other type goods in my bait pit but never had a bear touch it there. Put it in the bird feeder and the bears would not stay away. They would even eat the Niger thistle which was pretty much eaten by just finches.

My best baits were granola mixed with cream cheese and some trail mix. Close behind was pancakes with various jams (no peach or orange marmalade) followed by breads soaked in berry syrups. Chocolate and fudge was pretty good too, placing it on pancakes was also pretty good. Mints were a big hit last year but were spotty the years before.

Carmel corn was also well liked, better than popcorn with jello mix added. Popcorn with cheese was eaten regularly too.

I use meat but not until the bait is being hit regularly. I deep fry it in a turkey fryer before the season and use the grease as an attractant. A little on the ground around the bait will be spread around the area as bears walk in it and then wander the woods. Cooking it makes it last longer and is less attractive to flies and maggots. Bears are not fond of rotted meat in spite of what some believe. Late in the season I'll add meat to the pit as protein is desired more then or if a large boar is working the bait as they seem to like meat more than sweets.

I gather bait all year long as it can get expensive if one waits until shortly before the season. The best bait is the hardest to find and there is a great demand for it.
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby FJ540 on Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:50 pm

I've got 4 preference points and still didn't get drawn - this tag was over-the counter by pushing through the purchase exactly as the clock struck noon on the lottery machine's display. Zone 45 is pretty low in allotted tags (last year it was 175, not sure what this year's was), so I'm playing catch-up instead of executing a well developed strategy.

I spread a bag of dry molasses around the perimeter of my bait site and then dumped a bag of bird seed inside it, and then doused the molasses with cheap maple syrup. It worked! I got bear paw size clumps scattered all over the area.

I have a fox that's been loving the side effect too. Lots of video of patrolling and even some kill shots to boot. :lol:

I actually have some extra stinky cheese for when the temps are more favorable for an over-night hang. Just checking cameras and trying to tidy up the area for when the weather is more cooperative and maybe the bears are more active in the day. I've got a little pond next to the bait site, so it's possible they'll decide to hang in the area once they start visiting more.
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby FJ540 on Mon Sep 11, 2017 7:14 pm

I have been contemplating a .22-proof squirrel feeder. Maybe now's the time to get on that? :hmm:
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby FJ540 on Wed Sep 13, 2017 9:13 pm

Any guesses to how big she is? This camera is about 4' up off the ground with a slight downward aim.

https://youtu.be/FMEuEaGutzk
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby crbutler on Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:29 pm

Not a booboo, but not huge either. Shootable.

Probably 150 or so pounds.

My guess. I'm not the most experienced black bear hunter.
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby FJ540 on Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:52 pm

IMAG0401.JPG


Here she is last year with some more perspective on size. I'd be surprised if she's only 150# now.

I'm taking her out if I get the chance. The boar is a bigger trophy, but the uterus being shut down is a better prize. :lol:
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby FJ540 on Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:55 pm

Mayland sighting cr23.jpg


This is the boar in the neighborhood. :shock: A neighbor took this pic about a mile from my place. He's been seen on the beach road a mile in the other direction - I'm in the middle of both sightings.
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Re: Hunting season(s) starts tomorrow!!

Postby smurfman on Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:55 am

The bear in the video is probably in the 150# area as mentioned. Sows of breeding age tend to be in the 150-180# range with few going much over 200#. Sows that weigh into the 200s tend to be a few years past breeding age or have access to a steady and reliable food source such as waste food viewing stations like restaurants did years ago. The sow hanging around our cabin is about 7 years old and her size has not changed much in the last 4 years. It is how I determined she was a sow as she was not any larger the second year she showed up. As she did not have a cub, I placed her age at ~4 years and predicted she would have a single cub the next year. I was right and this year she had twins which is typical.

That Cubs aren't visible in the video is no indication the sow is barren. Cubs do not hang on the sow constantly and it is very possible they are someplace off camera. Even at a year and a half or so, as the cub in the picture would now be, Cubs need the sow to help them through the winter. Bears bear young every other year as the Cubs need that amount of time to learn the ropes well enough to have a chance at survival.

The still picture with the three bears is likely the sow, that year's cub and a 2 year old sow from the mother sow. Young sows tend to stay close to mom in carving out their range while young boars wander/are pushed much further away. Boars of all ages will kill and eat a cub given the chance which further makes it likely the second large bear is a sow.

That boar is a youngish one, maybe 250# at the tops. He just doesn't have the bulk of a older, large bear. The time of day also has me looking at it being a younger bear as older ones tend to avoid broad daylight for the most part. For me he would be a late September bear at least as my hopes would be for a larger one which becomes more likely as the season progresses. Most bears are shot in the first two weeks but those shot later tend to be males and are bigger. Once grouse and archery open up bears become much more wary but if one can find a quiet area, has enough bait, and is patient to wait it out they can score some decent bears. I lack the latter attribute as my passion is bird hunting but with retirement looming I could further amend my ways.
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